Brendan Matthew is here!!

Clara's baby cousin Brendan Matthew has arrived!

Born Feb. 5, 2010 at 5:56 am

8lbs. 4 oz. and 20 in. long

Clara liked saying her cousin's name, but was more interested in playing with Taylor and her toys that looking at Brendan. Big sister Taylor did a great job holding him!

Look at those sweet baby feet!

Auntie loves snuggling the lil' guy, too!

Our Groundhog Girl

On Tuesday, the groundhog saw his shadow and Clara Natalie had her second birthday!


She woke up to an extra special treat. Of course she loved the muffin, but Daddy was still home when she woke up since he decided to play hooky and hang out with his girl on her birthday. We took a family trip to the Seattle Aquarium. It happened that here was a great toddler activity center on top on normal aquarium exhibits and it ended up being a great thrill for our Scout.

Fishing with Daddy!

Touching some sea life

Making a puffer fish

Painting (She selected purple and gold as the colors for her painting!!)

Checking out the seahorse with Mommy! Great photo, Daddy!

Amazed by these little fish swimming around

Giggling with delight as the sea otter were fed

Touching!!!!

Clara & Mommy

We are SO proud of our sweet little girl. We came home and had a dinner of noodles (her favorite) and watched "Up". We are celebrating with family in a few weeks, but it was delightful to spend a day just focused on doing what she wanted to do!

She'll Never Be One Again...

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Michael Family Movie Nights

It is funny the ways in which being a parent change your life. Big things change, like not getting as much sleep, shifts in activities you participate in and even the people you spend time with. There are so many little changes, like how you refer to a food (instead of pho, pad thai, linguine, etc. it is all referred to as "noodles" in order to get her to eat it) or learning to set every beverage you drink out of a little one's reach (which becomes a whole new challenge when they get good at climbing). And then there are those magical changes in how you see the world - gaining an entirely new perspective on a simple part of life from enjoying it with your child. It is all these moments that we dreamed about from the first time we talked about starting a family, and now that they are happening, are even better than we had imagined. We had previously questioned all of the things we might be missing out on in starting a family and now realize the best part is what we were missing before we did!

One example is our new tradition of family movie nights. Clara is limited to a maximum 1 hour of media exposure a day and therefore if fascinated by TV. It is kind of scary, really! Together we have been enjoying some of Mommy & Daddy's childhood favorites like Muppets Take Manhattan and Snow White. Of course we never make it through a whole movie, but she really does well watching and following the story. The favorite part of our new movie-watching ritual is POPCORN!!!

Clara is so delighted to help make the popcorn and watches the popped kernels shoot out with the greatest anticipation. The adorable comments she makes and expressions she creates keep us laughing. Even after she is tucked in bed, we get a kick out of repeating her comments and go to bed with the warmest hearts! Parenthood is just SO much fun!

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

Clara & Mommy had a birthday surprise waiting when Daddy got home from work on his birthday. After a little birthday fun, Clara got to go to her buddy Davis' house while Mommy & Daddy enjoyed a night out together.

Clara has caught on to the cake thing. We even let her have a finger taste of the frosting and she was hooked! The kid has a sweet tooth like her Mama!

Funny Papers with Papa Bob

Our last trip to Chehalis was over a week ago. We headed down for a baby shower for Auntie Danielle and Clara's soon-to-arrive baby boy cousin. Mommy hates that she forgot her camera for the shower, but Danielle received lots of nice gifts from family and friends who are also anxiously awaiting the little guys arrival. I will be sure to post pictures then!

Grandma & Grandpa Stevens are still living with Grandma & Grandpa Swanson while there house is getting remodeled so we got to spend extra time with my grandparents, too. I have been so lucky to have a strong and enduring friendship with my grandparents. Together we have made so many memories and traditions. Now it is completely indescribable getting to watch as Clara gets to share those same experiences, like "special" lunches with Grandma Wanda and reading the funny papers with Papa Bob.

It really doesn't feel like that long ago that I got to nestle in close on his lap and have him describe the pictures in the comics to me. Knowing Grandpa, he'd be delighted to share this with me again if I asked, but I guess now it's Clara's turn and I just get to enjoy the beautiful view!

Hayden's Harry Potter Party

Our wonderful friend Hayden Fisher recently turned 6 and we helped his family celebrate with magical Harry Potter birthday party. My dear friend Christy did an amazing job with all of the details from potions and wands to strange sounding (yet delicious) snacks so the kiddos were having a wonderful time. Clara, who is clueless about Harry Potter got a big kick out of the sorcerer's hat and wand.

Miss Scout feeds off the excitement of all of the other older kids. Notice her in the photo below standing in amazement of all the other children working on their craft. Eventually she dove right in and made her hat, too!